Dear Friends,

On the Lord’s Prayer

When we pray “Thy will be done on earth as in heaven” we are not praying that God may accomplish what He wills, but that we may be able to do what God wills …

It was the will of God, then, that Christ exemplified both in His deeds and in His teaching. It means humility in behavior, constancy in faith, modesty in conversation, justice in deeds, mercy in judgments, discipline in morals.

We should be incapable of doing wrong to anyone, but able to bear patiently wrongs done to us. It requires that we live in peace with our brothers and sisters, loving God with our brothers and sisters, loving God with our whole heart, loving Him as our Father, fearing Him as our God.

It means preferring nothing whatever to Christ, who preferred nothing to us…and that in the face of death we allow our patience to be our crown.

This is what is entailed in being a co-heir with Christ. This is what it means to accomplish the commandment of God, to fulfill the will of the Father.

By Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (200-258 AD)

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With prayers.
Hayr Simeon
December 23, 2007